SEA GRANT NEWS & NOTES FROM AROUND THE NATION - MARCH 26, 1998
DELMARVA RESIDENTS COMMITTED TO KEEPING BAYS CLEAN, SURVEY SAYS Delmarva citizens are committed to keeping coastal bays healthy despite increasing pressures from a growing coastal population, according to a survey recently conducted by Delaware Sea Grant. "While a diversity of people reside along Delmarva's coastal bays--from farmers to retirees--they are united in their concern about the bays' welfare," says Jim Falk, Delaware Sea Grant's marine recreation and tourism specialist. "We found that 82 percent would participate, or are currently participating, in programs to help protect and conserve Delmarva's coastal bays." Besides providing habitat for more than 100 species of fish, migratory shorebirds and other wildlife, Delmarva bays (which extend from Rehobeth Bay in Delaware to South Bay in Virginia) annually attract millions of visitors who provide a tremendous boost to the region's economy. Falk found that the three environmental issues of most concern to the residents surveyed are water quality, protection of drinking water, and l! oss of fish and wildlife habitat. He also found that almost two-thirds of the respondents would support paying more taxes or higher prices to finance bay improvements. While the respondents felt strongly that the tourism industry provides many worthwhile employment opportunities, they also strongly supported long-term planning by local government to control the negative impacts of tourism on the environment. "Public concern about development activity appears to be highest in Delaware, followed by Maryland, and then Virginia, which correlates directly with the rate of growth occurring along the Delmarva peninsula," Falk says. "Our hope is that the survey results will be useful to state and county officials and planners in all three states as they develop management strategies for Delmarva's coastal bays." CONTACT: Jim Falk, Delaware Sea Grant Marine Recreation and Tourism Specialist (Lewes, DE), (O) 302-645-4235; E-Mail: [email protected]
STUDENTS TO RESEARCH WATER WITHOUT GETTING WET High school and community college students in Minnesota will one day get the opportunity to conduct water research from the comfort of their computer chairs. The National Science Foundation recently awarded the University of Minnesota's Sea Grant Program, Natural Resources Research Institute, and College of Education and Human Service Professions, $656,000 for a high-tech, three-year project where students can create their own water monitoring projects using Geographic Information System technology, the Internet and robotic Remote Underwater Sampling Station (RUSS) units developed by the University and its industrial partners. "We expect that students benefiting from this project will become the highly-skilled environmental scientists and technicians of tomorrow," said Bruce Munson, Minnesota Sea Grant marine educator. "Students need to become familiar with this technology now." Teams of academic, science, and technology specialists will develop a curriculum that teaches b! asic science concepts. The actual studies will be done with the help of RUSS, a patent-pending water sampling robot that students will program to gather, measure, analyze, chart and report water quality data. RUSS units will be placed in four diverse Minnesota lakes so students can compare and contrast "real time" data from differing sites. Final curricula will be made available through printed materials, an interactive compact disk, a Web site, in-service training workshops, and presentations at professional conferences. CONTACT: Bruce Munson, Minnesota Sea Grant Marine Educator, (Duluth, MN), (O) 218-726-6324; E-Mail: [email protected]
TREATING SEWAGE NATURALLY -- CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS HELP CLEAN UP TEXAS COAST Texas Sea Grant marine agent Rich Tillman and Bruce Lesikar, of the Texas Agriculture Extension Service, have constructed wetlands which are being used to treat septic effluent from a campsite in Texas' Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge. The project could be the first step in a process that will clean waters up and down the Texas coast. The idea is relatively simple. First, treated wastewater from a septic tank is drained into two wetlands cells containing water-loving plants such as canna lilies, irises, green tarrow, thalia and umbrella palms. Water that isn't absorbed by the plants is dispersed into a "leach field," consisting of perforated pipe laid out in an gravel-filled trench adjacent to the wetlands. The gravel acts as a reservoir until the water can be absorbed by the soil. Surprisingly, Lesikar said, the rocks are as important as the plants. "Microbes on the surface of the rocks treat the water," he said. "They act as predators on pathogens." The rocks also!
act as a buffer, trapping the smell of the wastewater beneath the gravel. Tillman believes this project will have applications for residential use in Brazoria and other coastal counties. "Septic systems have a tendency to fail," he said. "They end up polluting whatever water is close by, including bayous, rivers and bays. Constructed wetlands may provide an inexpensive alternative and improve water quality." Although the project is only at the early stages of analysis, the water coming out of the constructed wetlands is at swimming pool quality, said Tillman. CONTACT: Rich Tillman, Texas Sea Grant Marine Agent, (Angelton, TX), (O) 409-864-1564; E-Mail: [email protected]
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